Middlegate Station

Churchill County

As engulfed as I try to keep myself in obscure Nevada history, Middlegate is one that I have simply never read about. I've passed by it on Highway 50 many times, but I think I've only stopped there once. We did eat at the station, and if I remember right, the food was really good. I think that I've read from others that the food there is really good. If they are still serving food and alcoholic beverages, it may be someplace for you to put on your list. Since I have no real handle on the history here, I'll let the Snowshoe Thompson Chapter 1827 of E Clampus Vitus tell the story: "Middlegate was named in 1850 by James Simpson as he mapped the route for the Overland Stage Company. In his journal he writes that he thought the cuts in the mountains looked like 'gates' so he named each cut Westgate, Middlegate, and Eastgate to identify the route he took across the desert. It was at this spot at Middlegate that in 1859 the Overland Stage & Freight Company built a station to serve the gold and silver mines near Tonopah and east to Ely. When the Pony Express began service on April 3, 1860, Middlegate station served as a changing station on the route for 18 months until October 24, 1861, when the completion of the Pacific Telegraph line ended the need for its existence. Middlegate continued to serve as a stage and freight station until the 1900's to deliver personnel and much needed supplies to the gold and silver mines in Eastern Nevada until the mines closed. Automobiles soon came into service and the Lincoln Highway replaced the long and uncomfortable stage routes. The romantic drama surrounding the Pony Express and early history of the area has made Middlegate station part of the legend of the American West."

Middlegate station sits about 1/4 mile down Highway 361 (Road to Gabbs), at the junction of Highway 50. Middlegate is approximately 60 miles west of Austin, 45 miles east of Fallon and 30 miles north of Gabbs. This place sits out in the middle of nowhere on Highway 50, the "Loneliest Road in America".